Bruce Kulick
Bruce Howard Kulick (born on December 12, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York] is an American guitarist and a member of the band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously Kulick had been a long time member of the band KISS. Early years Kulick toured the world on Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell" tour in 1977-1978, and was briefly a member of Long Island's Good Rats. He was also in the band Blackjack with Michael Bolton, and also played on several Michael Bolton solo albums. (Bolton later co-wrote the KISS song "Forever", from Hot in the Shade). Kiss (1984-1996) Kulick is best known as lead guitarist for the rock band KISS from December 1984 to August 1996. Kulick never wore Kiss's iconic face paint on stage, even though he was with the band for almost 12 years. He joined shortly after the beginning of the band's "Unmasked" period. He left when the band regrouped with the original four members and re-adopted their makeup and costuming. Kulick was with the band longer than any member aside from the original foursome and drummer Eric Singer. (Singer has done three discontinuous stints with the band, each much shorter than Kulick's. Originally brought in as a touring member after guitarist Mark St. John was diagnosed with Reiter's Syndrome, Kulick played on 5 Kiss studio albums: Asylum, Crazy Nights, Hot in the Shade, Revenge and Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions as well as appearing on Alive III and Kiss Unplugged. The song "I Walk Alone" from Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions is the only Kiss track to feature Kulick as lead vocalist. His brother Bob Kulick played with Kiss as a session guitarist, and also appeared on Paul Stanley's solo album. Bruce was the first member of Kiss to be billed under his actual birth name, and to date, along with Tommy Thayer, is one of only two members to ever do so. All other past and present members have been billed under stage names, legally-changed names, nicknames, or partially modified names. Union When KISS' original members reunited in February 1996, Kulick left to form Union with John Corabi (Mötley Crüe's vocalist during Vince Neil's absence), Brent Fitz on drums; and James Hunting on bass. Three albums were forthcoming: Union, Live in the Galaxy and The Blue Room. In January 2005 Bruce released the first Union DVD, Do Your Own Thing Live. This DVD contained two full length Union concerts and extra bonus material. Union played in Japan in January 2005 and Germany in November 2005 without original member Brent Fitz. KISS bandmate Eric Singer filled in, as Brent had other obligations. Grand Funk Railroad Kulick is the lead guitarist for Grand Funk Railroad, with whom he has been playing since 2001 Solo work Kulick has released two solo albums, Audio Dog in 2001, and Transformer in 2003. Plans are in the works for a third solo release in late 2009. Other work In the late seventies following the release of Meat Loaf's first album Bat Out of Hell, Bruce went on tour with Meat playing guitar. Bruce has also appeared on all releases by Eric Singer's solo project ESP (Eric Singer Project): Lost and Spaced (1998), ESP (1999), Eric Singer Project: Live in Tokyo (2006), and Eric Singer Project: Live at the Marquee (2006), a Live DVD filmed in Australia. Bruce appears on the Lordi March 2006 album The Arockalypse, playing lead guitar on the song "It Snows In Hell". Kulick appears on Paul Stanley's 2006 album Live To Win, playing bass. In 2006, Bruce appeared on the compilation Butchering the Beatles, playing lead on the song "Drive My Car". Kulick cut a guest guitar solo for the track "The Edge of the Razor" (featured on the album Emotional Coma) by Swedish metal group Lion's Share. Lion's Share had been recording in a studio owned by a former KISS Army president of Sweden, who knew that Kulick was to arrive in Stockholm in order to attend a KISS Expo. The studio owner suggested that Lion's Share invite Kulick to the studio, and so the group complied. Kulick accepted the invitation, and went to the studio. Kulick listened to the track, and laid down a guitar solo. Kulick initially played a bluesy solo in the vein of Union, so Lion's Share guitarist Lars Chriss said; "Go back, and do some more flashy things.Chriss described the solo as being "very much based on revenge", and that Kulick "uses the whammy bar to show that.Furthermore, Chriss commented that the solo was "great", possessing "a lot of emotion", and that it "has some flashy elements". Afterwards, Kulick signed some KISS albums for the group. Bruce was a guest star along with Paul Stanley at Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp in New York City (August 31-September 3, 2007). In his 2008 feature interview with Maul Stanley, Bruce discussed his very first recorded project from 1974, something called KKB. It featured performances by his childhood friends Mike Katz and Guy Bois (the other K and B of KKB, respectively) and he likened its sound to that of Cream. Bruce only recently found the master tape from those sessions and issued it via limited edition CD, available during his appearances at Kiss expos and via his website. In a follow-up interview with Maul Stanley, Bruce also discussed his lifelong love of Star Wars and its historical similarities to KISS Discography with Billy Squier *''Tale of the Tape'' (1980) with Blackjack *''Blackjack'' (1979) *''Worlds Apart'' (1980) with The Good Rats *''Great American Music'' (1981) with Michael Bolton *''Michael Bolton'' (1983) *''Everybody's Crazy'' (1985) with KISS *''Asylum'' (1985) *''Crazy Nights'' (1987) *''Hot in the Shade'' (1989) *''Revenge'' (1992) *''Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions'' (1997) with Union *''Union'' (1998) *''Live in the Galaxy'' (1999) *''The Blue Room'' (2000) *''Do Your Own Thing'' DVD - Live(2005) with ESP *''Lost & Spaced'' (1998) *''ESP'' (1999) *''Live in Japan'' (2006) *''Live at the Marquee'' DVD (2006) Solo *''Audio Dog'' (2001) *''Transformer'' (2003) *''BK3 (Due for release in 2009) Other work *Don Johnson: Let It Roll (1989) *Eric Carr: Rockology (2000) Produced by Bruce Kulick. *KISS Tribute Spin The Bottle (2004) *Gene Simmons: Asshole (2004) *Bruce and Bob Kulick: KISS Forever (2005) KISS Instructional DVD *Lordi: The Arockalypse (2006) *Paul Stanley: Live to Win (2006) *Michael Schenker: Doctor, Doctor - The Kulick Sessions (2008) *Led Box - The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Tribute: Dazed & Confused (2008) Tourography With Meatloaf With KISS External links *Official Site *See photos of Bruce live with Union and ESP *Bruce Kulick Interview at Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict Category:Musicians Category:Members